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A gay couple from Norfolk that has sued in federal court to overturn Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban will have a hearing before U.S. Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen on Jan. 30, a spokesman for the couple said Thursday.

“It’s important for our plaintiffs to have their stories told, and for the judge to hear firsthand about the harm that Virginia’s punitive and unfair marriage amendment has done to their families and lives, whereby they are treated as second-class citizens and not afforded the same rights and freedoms as other married couples under the law,” said Adam Umhoefer, executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is sponsoring the couple’s case.Old Dominion University professor Timothy Bostic and partner Tony C. London, a Navy veteran and real estate agent, filed the suit last summer against State Registrar of Vital Records Janet M. Rainey and Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk George E. Schaefer after they were denied a marriage license because of the 2006 amendment to the Virginia Constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Bostic said in an interview that in 24 years, he and London had built a home together, developed a close circle of supportive friends and family, and supported each other during their ups and downs.

“We filed this lawsuit because we want our relationship to be recognized, just like everyone else’s,” Bostic said. “Further, it is important to us as Virginians to get married in a state we love, in a state we have called home for so long.”